context really is everything.

does it really matter what we do? or is it how we do it that counts?

I’m back again to try and put some thoughts down, to pause and take a breath. I have been all over the place the last few weeks, having just got back from the Lake District on Sunday it seems I’m just touching base and I’m off again tomorrow, this time to France. Will be great to be back with the little humans tomorrow! Lizzie returns from Africa on Sunday so on Sunday evening we’ll all be in the same country for the first time in 4 weeks.

Before we get into the theme of this short publication; I’m gonna just pause, maybe just check in with myself. I encourage you to do the same. Just notice how you are doing. Here’s a picture of some sunflowers from the community garden to boost your sense of wellbeing. After all a 2015 study appeared to show that viewing pictures of nature can support the activation of the parasympathetic (rest & digest) nervous system.

What do you think? How do you feel?

So a little bit of a theme over the last few weeks has been about context; how the same thing in different contexts can have very different effects.

One of the ways I work with people is as a breathwork coach (If you’re interested in talking more about this please get in touch), and I recognise (from my own practice really) that breathwork done in different contexts can be both extremely helpful or stressful.

I am sure that you guys will feel the pressure to be engaging in wellbeing activities (breathwork, exercise, yoga, journalling, etcetera) as much as I am and whilst I appreciate the sentiments and indeed spend my time trying to support people to engage with these wellbeing activities. I wonder sometimes if the weight of this expectation is actually harmful, especially for those who are already struggling with their mental health, thoughts?

This is one of the reasons I would advise getting a coach or teacher as hopefully they will help you figure out how to fit the practice into your existing routines. I always try to make the breathwork fit into already existing schedules so it is “not another thing I know I am not doing!”

Whilst it is well documented that a healthy diet, exercise, etc will lead to improvement in health and well-being for most people and lead to longevity of life; I don’t propose to argue with that, but what I am interested in is why is it so fucking hard? or maybe why is it so fucking easy to not eat well. I think it is to do with context.

So what is our context? Well I don’t know yours, but in my context I struggle to be consistent with exercise & diet, or anything really, once it loses it’s pazazz!! Unless I have good accountability and it is easy it’s unlikely that I’m going to persist beyond the ‘I’m having a great time doing this new thing’ stage. But why? I know eating well and exercising would boost both my mental and physical health (both of which are already quite average to good) so why is it so hard? I am not arguing against personal responsibility here, but I think it has a lot to do with context. I think my current context is one where it’s hard to do the right thing; it’s just not convenient. I’m sure that marked as the reason for the death of humanity will be convenience and comfort. In our quest for comfort & convenience we are slowly killing ourselves.

We rely on energy that was formed over millions of years so we can get from place to place, to buy things we don’t really need grown using energy from millions of years ago, because it is easier than using what we have.

I’m not intending to go on much more about this but I think it illustrates how tricky our context is, even if it’s serves us right now I’m not sure for how much longer it will. So what do we do? instead of challenging our context we berate ourselves for not exercising enough or eating the wrong foods or not doing our breathwork. We need to unstick ourselves from the hamster wheel.

Even if you’re lucky enough to be able to eat the healthiest lunch, if you are doing this in a stressed (sympathetic nervous system) state you’ll not be benefiting from the healthy lunch as much as you could be. (The Effects of Psychological and Environmental Stress on Micronutrient Concentrations in the Body: A Review of the Evidence).

Maybe if you want to get the most from the food you eat you could pause for one minute before you eat, slow your breath and acknowledge our gratitude for the nourishment. Maybe this would change the context in which we eat that meal.

I’m really interested in seeing if we can change our entire context, can shift our focus, we can search out alternative ways of being. But I don’t think we can do it alone, I think we have to do it together. I think the answer may lie in intentional community. More on this to follow in the future,I’m sure of it.

I’d be really interested in hearing your thoughts or comments. If you like the publication I’m be grateful for your support either engaging or subscribing is brilliant as it helps me stay motivated to write things down. After all I don’t want the pazazz to fade and this be yet another good intention!

Wishing you love and kindness.

Dan